If this era produced an ultimate victor, it could only be the Flying Pirates or the Roger Pirates.
In terms of potential, the Roger Pirates would one day have three top-tier powerhouses: Roger, Rayleigh, and Gaban—their Three Giants of gold, silver, and copper.
Their other members were elites too, and more than a few were close to becoming Top Combatants.
Meanwhile, Golden Lion Shiki commanded the largest force, with countless pirates flocking to his banner.
His two most trusted lieutenants had also begun to grow stronger.
Only a year after the Rocks Pirates disbanded, Shiki had gained a young monster: Atlas, a Mythical Zoan Titan Fruit user.
That meant the Flying Pirates would also have three Top Combatants in the future.
That lineup alone surpassed every other pirate crew.
Whitebeard would later stand alongside Roger and Shiki as a Legendary Pirate, but that was always thanks to his own overwhelming strength, not that of his children.
"Jihahahaha! Hades, things are pretty lively here!"
Shiki left his men behind and flew straight into the Palace, landing before Hades.
The Flying Pirates' vessel hovered quietly off the coast of Sigli Island, held aloft by Shiki's power.
The Flying Pirates carried supplies down from the Island Battleship and, escorted by members of the Pluton Pirates, headed for their exhibition area.
The larger their force grew, the more money it took to maintain the Flying Pirates.
And right now, the Flying Pirates were still expanding rapidly.
The protection money they collected from factions in their territory was not enough. They needed other sources of income.
There was the growing pirate crew, the construction of the Sky Kingdom, and Reinhardt's plan to help the Flying Pirates establish a powerful intelligence network entirely their own.
He had been working on it all along, but progress was